AEROSPACE & DEFENSE

C-17 Flight Tests Delayed: The Air Force has acknowledged that tests on McDonnell Douglas’ troubled C-17 cargo plane program will take up to a year longer than expected. The delay is blamed primarily on McDonnell’s late deliveries of test aircraft as well as a lower number of test flights than had been anticipated. St. Louis-based McDonnell builds the giant C-17 at its plant in Long Beach, where about 11,000 employees work on the program. Air Force officials said they now expect to complete the flight tests in late 1994 or early 1995. Previously, they were to end by January, 1994. The $40-billion C-17 program is more than a year behind schedule, and McDonnell is more than $1 billion over budget on its $6.6-billion contract to build the first C-17s.